As the Gate Opens
by Atlantean Pineapple
Summary: Two realities collide... again. What happens when a new variation of the team appears? The usual. Send 'em back. The catch? This team isn't military, they're actors who lack two little words: security clearance. SLIGHT Galaxy Quest X-over.
1. Meet the Cast

Disclaimer: I do not own **Stargate: Atlantis** or **Galaxy Quest**.

**Just a Note**: I apologize if anything is confusing at first, but stick with me and it will make sense. Also, don't give up partway down because of a comment by 'McKay': I will never write 'slash.' A note at the end of the chapter will explain a few things about the characters. Enjoy!

**Chapter One: Meet the Cast**

"McKay! Hurry it up, will ya? We don't exactly have all day!"

"I know! However, this is incredibly complex. The slightest mis…" Sparks flew from the machine he was working on, cutting him off.

"Yeah, I get it. Just hurry!"

McKay opened and closed his mouth before letting out a long-suffering sigh and hurriedly went back to work. "Right."

"Any time now, Rodney!"

"Just- Just stop talking, Sheppard!" No more than a minute passed by before Rodney threw himself away from the spark emitting machine and covered his eyes with his hands. "I give up. I apologize, Colonel. I'm afraid we're doomed."

"Don't give me that talk, McKay. You have the most brilliant mind in all twelve universes. You're a handsome guy, you have people who love and admire you. Don't let this thing defeat you!"

"You really mean it, Sheppard? I always thought you found me annoying, but… Look, just in case… I've- I've always wanted to tell you this… I'm very… attracted to you."

"I'm sorry, Rodney. I- I love someone else… And I think he loves me."

"Oh… at least tell me his name, Jane."

"I'll tell you once we get out of this mess, McKay. That's another thing to live for!"

"Right." Rodney went back to the spitting chunk of steel and intertwining wires. "Aha! It's so simple. I can't believe I missed it. All I have to do is…"

"Spare me the explanation and just do it, McKay!" Jane Sheppard looked worriedly at the shaking walls around them.

"Right." He got to his feet and walked to the back of the machine and yanked on a long cord that had been plugged into a socket on one of the walls.

The shaking, the constant spray of sparks, and the general chaos ceased to exist.

Jane closed her eyes and clenched her fists in barely contained anger. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

Rodney smiled, proud of himself. "Yes, I did. Guess it was even simpler than it looked."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Back in the Atlantis gate room, a group of young men and women, along with the rest of the team including a visibly relieved Ronon, circled both Rodney McKay and Jane Sheppard.

"How did you do it?" asked an eager young man with dark brown hair.

"It was simple, really…" McKay started.

"Were you not concerned you were going to depart this life?" asked the other member of the team, Teyla.

Rodney scoffed. "Of course not."

Ronon rolled his eyes. "So you didn't want to give up? Not one second?"

Jane put a hand on his shoulder and smirked. "It's like I always say, Ronon," she started, leading him away from the group to face the gate. "Never give up. Never surrender."

And with that, the giant Stargate tilted back and fell to the floor.

"CUT!"

The man she called Ronon threw his hands up in the air and said, "Please tell me we don't have to do that again."

The woman dropped her hand from his shoulder. "And I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down," she mumbled, turning around. "Hey, Steve, guess you should've gone with the house of brick, eh?"

"Is everyone ok? No one's hurt, right?" The new voice came from the side of the set, where a pretty, sweet-looking woman had rushed upon hearing the noise the gigantic cardboard prop had made when it fell.

"Don't worry, Cassie. We'll live," the woman called "Jane" replied with a grin.

"So no one needs a doctor or anything?" Cassie asked, still looking uncertain as she fiddled with her fingers.

The woman, "Teyla," who had spoken earlier now came to stand by "Sheppard." "We're fine, freak. Not that you could do anything to help us if we weren't. You only _play_ a doctor, remember? _Sewing_ needles scare you."

"C'mon, leave her alone, Tia. We know it's hard for you, considering you only _play_ a decent human being," the man called 'Ronon' said, draping an arm around Cassandra's shoulders.

Tia rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed. "Whatever, Rick," she said, walking away.

"Sometimes I wonder why we talk to her, but then I remember: we don't. _She_ talks to _us_."

Cassie smiled at the attempt to make her feel better. "Thanks, Julliett, Rick. So how did that happen?" She gestured at the painted "Stargate" that the crew was trying to get back into an upright position.

'Rodney,' who was walking toward them, looked confused. "How did what happen?"

Julliett, who played Jane, sent him a look that clearly said, "You weird me out," and moved a few steps away.

Rick resisted the urge to do the same and managed a smile. "The Gate fell over again, Roy."

Roy turned his head to face the mass of cardboard. "Oh. Would ya look at that?" He paused for a moment. "So when's dinner?"

Cassie held in a laugh when Rick's face turned confused and smiled kindly. "After lunch, sweetie."

Roy grinned. "Right!" He started to walk away, but about fifteen steps later, he stopped and turned on his heel. "When's lunch?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Alone in a dark room, sleeping with a small smile on his face, was the one and only Rodney McKay. His dream, however, was another matter entirely. In his dream he was still on Atlantis, but John, Carson, Teyla, Ronon, and everyone else were all gone. Instead, the entire city was run by McKays. At the moment, twenty or so Rodneys were seated at a long table, the Supreme Original Rodney seated at the head. This Rodney looked around at his fellows, each one just as good-looking as the original, and each one so smart, words such as "brilliant" or "genius" didn't even begin to describe them. His eyes roamed from Rodney to Rodney, McKay to McKay, all the while smiling an arrogant little smile… That is, until his eyes landed on the _thing _directly across from him.

It was taller than him. It had longer, thicker hair and dark brown eyes and was well-built. It was the kind of guy beautiful girls fell for every day.

It was not Rodney McKay.

What was to only be known as 'the creature' to Rodney was leaning its chair back on two legs. Then the creature opened its mouth and said, "Wassup?"

All of the Rodneys got to their feet and stared at the creature. "Excuse me?" they said in unison.

"So…" the creature started, looking around at them uncaringly, "… when's dinner?"

The Original Rodney, hoping to get rid of the creature as soon as possible, looked at the watch on his wrist. He did a double-take, and then sent an unamused look toward the creature. "After lunch."

The creature grinned and nodded, getting up to leave the room. Halfway to the door, he stopped and turned. "When's lunch?"

The McKays in the room rolled their eyes. "After we answer life's biggest questions and solve the problems of the universe," they replied in united sarcasm.

"Cool. I don't know about this, uh, universe problem, but I always thought, uh, complex math was the worst, uh, like, uh, addition of double digits. Like, uh, fifty-three plus thirty seven. That's like, uh, seventy six or something, right?"

The mouths of the many McKays opened and closed a number of times, then… "Who _are_ you?" asked the Original Rodney. He had the sneaking suspicion that the creature was related to Zelenka.

The creature grinned again. "Me? I'm Rodney McKay, man. Who're you?"

Rodney woke up screaming.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Somewhere out in the vastness of the universe, presumably somewhere near one of the planets that boasts one of the gates connected to the Stargate network that are accessible to the Ancient city of Atlantis, was a black hole. Sometimes, as Samantha Carter could tell you (if you had security clearance, of course), black holes cause abnormalities in the speed of time. Other times, however, black holes cause other unnatural events to occur. This specific time, for instance, the appearance of the black hole caused two separate realities to collide, and whether this strange yet not unheard of abnormality occurred because the black hole itself came from an alternate reality remains unknown. What is known, though, is that the black hole wasn't the only thing that came through.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Note: Ok, if the actor/character relations weren't clear, here is a **Cast List**:

Julliett Smith……… Jane Sheppard  
Rick Donaldson....… Ronon Dex  
Cassandra Breyuh…Carly Beckett  
Tia Erewood………Teyla Emmagan  
Roy Martins………Rodney McKay


	2. Meet Your Partners: Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or Galaxy Quest.

Note: Thank you to Ace Ryn Knight and BlueDragon007 for your reviews.

**Chapter Two: Meet Your Partners: Part One**

There were five of them in all. One of them appeared in the gate room. Another appeared in one of the many corridors. A third appeared on the balcony of Dr. Carson Beckett's personal quarters. Yet another appeared in the Jumper bay. A fifth appeared in the infirmary. All of them were unconscious, and all of them appeared human. They were not, however, found at the same time.

The one in the gate room was found first. The woman on the floor was surrounded by a few armed military officers and Dr. Weir. She had shoulder length blonde hair and deeply tanned skin.

The second was found in the infirmary with Dr. Carson Beckett and a few nurses standing around the bed the intruder had materialized on. A few curious patients were also observing the thin, dark-skinned man with his long, light brown hair covering parts of his face.

The third one they found in a corridor not too far from Rodney's quarters. The second man was tall with thick brown hair that reached just below his ears. When Rodney saw him, his eyes grew wide and he walked back to his room and locked himself in.

The woman in the Jumper bay was spotted next by Colonel John Sheppard. She had long, strait black hair and looked as if she could hold her own in a fight despite the paleness of her skin.

The last one to be found was not discovered until the night was so far along that it was about two thirty in the morning.

Dr. Carson Beckett was tired, confused by the sudden appearance of the four strangers, but all-together content with the day's work. He knew tomorrow would be filled with activity, questions, and quite possibly danger, but all he wanted at that moment was to lie down in his warm, comfortable bed and get a few hour's good rest. All thoughts of sleep, however, flew from his mind as he stepped into his quarters and he heard something banging on the door leading to the balcony. He took a few steps toward the sliding door, mentally preparing himself for whatever could be beyond the firmly shut curtains. Of course, as was usually the case on Atlantis, what he saw was the only thing he hadn't been expecting.

What he saw was a woman, maybe a couple years younger than him, with features so sweet not even the current expression of sheer terror could hide the kindness that must have always lined her face. She was beauty in the most basic, most natural, most pure form he had ever seen.

When she began slowly backing away from the glass door, he snapped out of the trance he had fallen into. His hand quickly reached toward the sensor that would open the door. It slid to the side with a soft swish, but the woman didn't move.

"Hello," he said softly in his most gentle tones, not wanting to frighten her further. With the way she was shaking, he almost felt she would shatter if he said it too loudly.

Her worried features relaxed for a moment after he spoke. She seemed to gather her courage before taking a step forward and holding out her hand. "Hello." She said the word with only slightly greater volume than he had.

The good doctor took her hand and lifted it to his lips, tricking himself into believing the hand was too delicate for the rough shaking ritual that was most commonly displayed.

"Where am I?" she asked, pulling her hand back and fiddling with her fingers in front of her.

Carson shoved his hands into his pockets and hesitated only slightly before saying, "You're in the city of Atlantis."

The woman before him blinked a few times, as if trying to digest just what he meant by Atlantis. "Atlantis? As in the underwater city?"

"Well, it was under the ocean before, but now we're up and floating," he said with a reassuring smile.

"We- we're floating now."

"Aye. Your friends are…" He never finished that sentence, partly because he wasn't completely sure they _were_ her friends, but mostly because it was at that moment that she fainted.

He caught her just before she would have hit the floor.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rodney found his nights were nearly as productive as his days. Snuggled cozily into his blankets with a smile on his face, he even produced brilliance in his dreams. This was what countless nights had been leading to.

The Supreme Original Rodney stood before a long panel covered with monitors and flashing buttons. He was dressed in a white outfit trimmed with gold, standing in the control room with twenty or so of his most prized McKays squeezed into the room to witness this miraculous occasion. A giant monitor stood to the side of the Stargate, showing the rest of the Rodneys in the gate room what was happening. The Original Rodney grinned and waved as he looked down upon the best helpers he could have ever wanted.

"This is it, my friends. This is the day we have waited for for so long. Today is the day that I, the Supreme Original Rodney McKay, your leader, have solved the biggest problem in the universe. I have achieved the greatest achievement, an achievement so great, in fact, the poor pathetic minds of the universe could not even begin to comprehend it. Citrus, my fellows, is about to be eternally eliminated!"

The giant crowd of Rodneys errupted into cheers, and the twenty McKays in the room clapped joyously. One of the Rodneys that made up his gate room audience screamed, at the top of his lungs, "I love you, Rodney!" and then proceeded to pass out on the floor.

"How could I possibly do this, you may ask. I have done the calculations, I have made absolutely certain of the math, I have invented new technologies, and here is the result." The screen in the other room now focused on two buttons on the control panel closest to the Original Rodney. One was green, one was red, and both were larger than his fist. "This green button, my beautiful, brilliant colleagues, is the key to perfection! _Activate the Stargate!_" The ring filled with waves of blue. The Supreme Original Rodney raised his hand high in the air, preparing to slam it down on the green button when…

"Cool, man! A red button! Can I, uh, press it?" Without waiting for a response, a long arm appeared beside him, flying toward the red button, then slamming into it.

"NOOOOO!" The Supreme Original Rodney looked into the gate room just in time to see hundreds of lemons flying through the gate and multiple Rodneys falling to the floor with large juice stains on their chests.

Rodney woke up screaming.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Is she OK?"

"Why would I care?"

"Hey, look, she's waking up!"

"I'm hungry."

Cassandra groaned as she sat up, opening her eyes just long enough to close them against the intense light. "What happened?" she asked her companions who were all scattered around the room.

"Not sure what happened to you… the rest of us were brought here hours before you," Rick said.

Julliett nodded in agreement. "Some guy with messy hair dragged me down here. There weren't many people around, but from what I saw, this seems to be some sort of secret military base… Actually, it looks a lot like our set, just… better."

"Atlantis," Cassie whispered.

"Are you alright?" asked Rick.

"Yes, I'm fine," Cassie said quickly. "I know where we are."

"Well?" Tia snapped.

"Atlantis."

"We're not on set. Sorry, Cassie," Julliett said, thinking her friend was just hoping.

"Not the set. We are really on the real Atlantis."

"As in the lost city of Atlantis that _supposedly_ existed and _supposedly_sank to the bottom of the ocean?" Julliett questioned in a 'just to be sure' manner. "OK, I'll bite. What makes you think we're in the real Atlantis?"

Cassandra seemed distracted as she took in her surroundings, noting how bare the room was and the single door made of some sort of metal. "He told me."

"He? Oh… you mean the Scottish man who brought you down here. What was his name?" she asked herself.

"The woman called him Carson," Tia said.

"Right!" exclaimed Julliett. She then returned her focus to Cassie. "And this man told you we are in the sunken city of Atlantis?"

Cassie nodded, then said, "No. We're floating."

Tia rolled her eyes, Rick looked confused, Roy was just listening without any great interest, and Julliett's face was lined in concentration. "Cassie… Are you sure he wasn't, you know, lying?"

Cassandra looked slightly offended.. "Yes, I'm sure."

"How?"

"His eyes, Julliett. His eyes lie about as well as yours do."

"So there's no denying it?" Julliett said with a laugh.

"He truly believes we are in Atlantis, but who knows, he may be insane," Cassie said, smiling.

Julliett smiled back. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but wait and hope they haven't forgotten about us."

Everyone in the room nodded.

"So all of you are OK, right?" Cassie asked, worrying as usual.

"I don't know, Cassie, you're the doctor," Julliett said with a grin and a wink.

If any of them had truly accepted that they were in the Ancient city of Atlantis, they would not have taken the news so lightly.

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"You told her what?" exclaimed Colonel John Sheppard.

"That- that we were on… Atlantis. I'm sorry, Dr. Weir, it just… slipped out!" Dr. Carson Beckett had just told Weir, John, and Rodney about his encounter with the stranger on his balcony.

"Great," John said sarcastically, running a hand through his hair. He took a few steps forward until he was right in front of Carson. "You know, we were just going to have Rodney find a way to send them back, but now we'll have to talk to them, spend time with them, get to know them." He took another step closer so they were almost touching and growled, "Do you realize how likely it is that there is another McKay in that room?"

Carson's eyes widened, imagining the terror of such an occurrence. "Aye. I am so sorry, John," he breathed out.

"You will be," John said, stepping back again.

Weir looked at the three men in the room and sighed. "As much as hate to say it, Carson, he's right, now we'll have to go down there and sort this out." She motioned for John to follow her. "We'll find out who they are and then inform their… counterparts, of the situation."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Weir sat at her desk and watched two of her armed personnel lead the first woman into the room. She was the one John had found in the Jumper bay. _She looks confident,_Weir thought. "Hello," she greeted, figuring if these people were from an alternate reality and had counterparts on the base, she should attempt to keep things polite.

The woman grinned and took a seat in the chair opposite Weir. "Hey."

Weir smiled slightly, glancing at John, who stood in a corner of the room, leaning against the wall. "Can you tell us your name?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'm Julliett. Can you tell me yours?" Julliett leaned forward and placed her elbows on the edge of the desk between them.

"Dr. Weir. How about a last name?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Weir." Julliett got to her feet, causing John to straiten up and prepare for a fight. "Julliett Smith, at your service," she said with a dramatic bow. She then retook her seat, and John relaxed again.

"Well met, Ms. Smith. Can you tell us where you're from and your rank or occupation?" Weir said.

John was whispering into his earpiece in the corner. He walked to Weir and whispered into her ear that there was no Julliett Smith on Atlantis. Julliett watched the interaction with interest.

"I was born in California, Dr. My friends and I aren't military, so I can't really give you a rank, but we do have an occupation. We're actors, and we are in the middle of filming an episode of 'As the Gate Opens,' a sci-fi drama."

John nearly burst out laughing when she finished. The idea in his head was quite humorous. Weir's eyes widened, thinking not of the humor of the situation, but of the huge breach in security if they were right.

"So this show, what is it about?"

"Channel 50, doc, every Friday at nine, but then again, you might not have TV down here if we really are where your man said we are. But anyway, it's about a large group of scientists and military personnel from across the globe who go through a mysterious ring called the 'Stargate' and end up on the lost city of Atlantis, where they get into all sorts of trouble. The five of us you have here are the stars."

John could be heard chuckling in the corner. Weir turned to him. "I don't see how this is funny," she scolded, rubbing her temples lightly. "I don't believe this," she mumbled, looking back at the comfortable Julliett.

"What? You want an autograph?" she joked.

Weir sent the woman the same look she had just sent John, and then shook her head, having been struck with an idea. "What is the name of your character?"

"Colonel Jane Sheppard," she said.

Now Weir laughed. "Well, John, I guess you get this one."

John, on the other hand, had lost all traces of good-humor. "Wait, are you saying I'm played by a girl? You have got to be kidding me."

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"Hello. Your friend, Ms. Smith, told us about your… TV show," Weir said to the other four visitors. Julliett was standing next to John in the corner, asking him questions. John looked confused, and took the chance to step forward.

"Names and other names, people!"

Cassie and Roy jumped, Rick nodded, and Tia sent him a glare.

"I'm Rick Donaldson, sir, and I play Ronon Dex." Both John and Weir looked surprised, having guessed the other man would say that name above the thin man before them.

"Oh, he'll _love_ this," John said with a short chuckle.

"Tia Erewood. Teyla Emmagan," Tia said shortly. Weir forced a smile to the woman who had shown her rude nature a few times already, something she hoped Teyla could deal with and maybe even fix.

Cassie poked Roy, who was too busy looking around the room to notice that all eyes were now on him. "Hey, it's your turn now," she informed him quietly.

"Oh! Uh, I'm uh, Roy Martins." He smiled and went back to observing the furniture.

"And your character?"

"Me? I'm Rodney McKay!"

The room went eerily silent. Weir turned to John and mouthed, "Did I hear that right?"

John nodded, equally shocked. Then he shook his head and turned to the last one, the woman Carson had found and spilled the beans to. The one with the sweet face.

"Hello," she smiled, "I'm Cassandra Breyuh and I play Dr. Carly Beckett."

Weir was thinking that there were a few similarities between the two of them.

All John was thinking was that he was sure glad he wasn't the only one played by a girl.


End file.
